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Video Conferencing Grows in Popularity: Polycom

As video conferencing continues to become more pervasive, in three years laptops and desktops are still expected to be the most preferred device.

Almost all (96 percent) business decision makers believe video conferencing removes distance barriers and improves productivity between teams in different cities and countries, according to a survey of more than 1,200 business decision makers by unified communications (UC) specialist Polycom.

When asked to choose their preferred methods of communications today, respondents ranked video conferencing third (47 percent) after email (89 percent) and voice/conference calls (64 percent), and those same business leaders and managers expect video to be their most preferred collaboration tool in three years (52 percent), followed by email (51 percent) and voice/conference calls (37 percent).

As video conferencing continues to become more pervasive, in three years laptops and desktops are still expected to be the most preferred device (72 percent), while mobile devices and conference room usage will increase to 55 and 51 percent.

"The growing popularity of video conferencing at home, especially by millennials entering the workforce, is a big driver of increased preference for and adoption of video collaboration in the workplace," Jim Kruger, executive vice president and chief marketing officer at Polycom, said in a statement. "Some key factors to making video as popular in the office as it is at home is ensuring it’s easy to use, providing a high quality connection, delivering enterprise-grade security, and participants’ willingness to accept and adapt to cultural differences as they communicate across borders."

Further reading

The survey also revealed that 83 percent of respondents, and almost 90 percent of those in their 20s and 30s, use consumer video conferencing solutions at home today, and almost half of all respondents use video conferencing at home at least once a week.

"We’re seeing businesses around the world defy distance every day using video collaboration, including increasing productivity, enhancing employee engagement, improving time to market and helping to save lives," Kruger said.

The study also showed that laptops and desktops are the most popular devices for business video conferencing (75 percent of respondents), followed by conference rooms (48 percent) and mobile devices (42 percent).

In addition, the survey found the top three most important criteria for an ideal video meeting are the ability to hear everyone clearly (69 percent), technology that is straightforward and easy to use (60 percent), and maintaining good eye contact with everyone on the call (58 percent).

Respondents who use video conferencing today said the three biggest advantages are better collaboration between globally dispersed colleagues (54 percent), greater clarity of topics being discussed (45 percent) and more efficient meetings (44 percent).